Improvement in steam and water pressure regulators



N. PETERS, PHOTO-UTHOGHAPMER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETGE.'

NATHANIEL c. LocxE, on sALEMfMAssAcHUsETTs.

|MPRovEMENT 1N STEAM AND WATER PRESSURE REGuLAToRS.

S] )cciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 113,069, dated March28, 1871.

To all whom fit may concern: Y

Be it known that I, N ATHANIEL C. LOGKE, of Salem, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain riew and usefulImprovements in Steam and Water Pressure Regulators, ot'v which thefollowing is av full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, forming part of this speciiication, and inwhich- Figure l represents an elevation of a pressure-regulatorconstructed in accordance with my invention 5 and Figs. 2 and 3,vertical sections of the same, with certain of the valves andworkingparts in different portions.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. y

This invention, while applicable to pressureregulators irrespective ofthe nature ofthe iuid which may pass through them, is mainly designed tobe used for regulating the supply, at a reduced and uniform pressure, ofsteam and water, but more particularlyT the latter, as in the case ofwater supplied from street-mains to the interior of buildings forvarious purposes, and in which it is an object to keep the pressure ofsaid supply lower than it is in the mam.v

The improvements comprised by this invention on such regulators consist,rst, in a combination, with the supply-val ve of the receiver, andloaded diaphragm orpiston controlling the same, of an independent safetyor relief valve, and an elastic connection or device interposed betweensaid diaphragm and supply-valve, for the operation of the safety-'valvethrough the instrumentality of the diaphragm, said safetyvalve providingagainst excess of pressure within the receiver by leakage through thesupply-valve.

The' invention also includes a combination of such relief-valve andelastic connection with a check-valve, C, supply-valve, the loadeddiaphragm, and receiver, whereby a more complete action is obtained forthe regulator.

The invention likewise embraces an arrangement, within the receiver, ofthe safety-valve, adjustable from the exterior, thereby providing forthe immediate relief of the receiver under a variable or any desiredfixed excess of pressure.

Furthermore, the invention comprises a pe- I culiar and exibleconstruction of the diaphragm in part of rubber or other like materialand in part of sheet metal, for the better protection of the diaphragmand to'prevent leakage through it; likewise a combination of anadjusting box 0r nut with a graduated stem and spring, for varying theload on the diaphragm.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A represents the receiver of awater-pressure regulator, designed to be connected with .a street-main,and to which I) is the inlet. f Said inlet communicates with a valve-box, B, which is fitted with a check-valve, C, to prevent return ofwater to the lnain or emptying and possible collapse of the pipes andtheir attachments in the building when liooding or drawing off the waterfrom the main, which device has been made the subject of a previousapplication for patent by me. The valve-box B is also provided above thecheck-valve with a supply-valve, F, opening downward or against thecurrent through the valve-box, and which is opened and closed by theaction of the loaded piston or diaphragm D of the regulator, accordinglyas the pressure of the water is increased or diminished on thediaphragm.v This diaphragm D it is preferred to c0nstruct, in part, of asheet or disk, c, of rubber orvothe'r like material, and in part ofsheet metal, d, which latter is applied as a covering to the rubber toprotect it from injury and to seal the rubber against leakage, saidsheet metalworking in common with the rubber, and being clampedinternally or at its center by a basel piece, c, on therising-and-alling stem I, and externally by a ring, f, which establishesthe joint of the diaphragm with the receiver.

S is the spring by which the diaphragm D is loaded to its requiredpressure. Said spring is coiled around the stem I, and acts upon thediaphragm to keep it down, by its arrangement between the base-piece cand an adjusting nut or box, M, which lits, by a screwthread on itsexterior, through a frame, E, made fast to the receiver. The stem Iisfitted to slide up and down through this adjustingbox M, and isgraduated or marked with gures denoting different pressures, as seen inFig. l, so that by turning the box M to the right or left the sprin g Sis more or less compressed,

and is made to act with a force on the diaphragm D, corresponding to theindicatingmarks on the stem, as either one of them is brought in linewith the upper surface of the box, or with a pointer thereon. Suchdevices form a simple means for varying the action of thepressure-regulator to shut off the supply to it at any desired or givenpressure.

The stem I is connected with the supplyvalve F, to enable the diaphragmD to control it, by a yielding connection, H, interposed between saidvalve and the diaphragm, said connection consisting of a yoke carried byor attached to the stein, and in gear with the supply-valve through aspring wound around the valve-stein, which latter is free to slidethrough the yoke.

By the use of such an interposed elastic connection I make the diaphragmD not only control in an easy manner the supply-valve F, but also causeit to operate a safety or relief valve, G, arranged within the receiver,and which provides for the escape of surplus water produced by leakagethrough the valves C and F, when closed, which surplus water, by addingto the pressure in the receiver, would, in course of time, neutralizethe action of the regulator, as regards its maintaining a lower pressurethan that of the water in the main. Thus the yoke of the yieldingconnection H, when the regulator is working in the regular manner, liftson the supply-valve F, to close it by the action of the water on theunder side ofthe diaphragm, till the requisite pressure.

has been reached in the receiver, after which, should there be anyfurther accumulation of water in thereceiver, and a consequent increaseby pressure by leakage of water from the main through the closed valveF, then the yoke of the yielding connection H is lifted against thepressure of its spring, and, in thus being lifted independently of thevalve F, operates upon the safety-valve G to open it and allow of thesurplus water passing ofi'. This safety or relief valve G is kept closedby a spring, g, and is opened by the yoke of the yielding connection Hbeing made to lift upon an elastic wedge, h, tting through a slot in thestem of the safety-valve, and adjustable from the eX- terior of thereceiver by a screw-box, i, on which may be screwed a locking-nut, k,the turning of the screw-box c' when the lockingnut k is slackenedserving to project the elastic wedge k more or less through the slot inthe stem of the valve G, whereby the timely action of said valverelatively to the diaphragm to givemspeedier or tardier relief may bevaried. L

By thus providing for the adjustment of the safety-valve from theoutside of the receiver, the breaking of the diaphragm-joint to effectadjustment of the valve is avoided.

The receiver A may have any number of outlets, m, by which the iiuidunder a uniform and reduced pressure is taken or supplied to the pipps.

What is here claimed, and desired to' be secured by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the supply-valve of the receiver and loadeddiaphgram controlling the same, of an independent safety or relief valveand an elastic connection or device interposed between the diaphragm andsupply-valve, for operation of said safety-valve, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination of the check-valve C, the supply-valve F, thereceiver A, the loaded diaphragm D, the relief-valve G, and the yielding connection H, essentially as herein set forth.

3. The combination with and arrangement within the receiverA of thesafety or relief valve G, operated by the yoke of the yieldingconnection H, substantially as specified.

4. The diaphragm D, composed in part of rubber and in part of sheetmetal, for opera tion in combination with or as applied to awater-pressure regulator, essentially as described.

5. The combination of the adjusting nut or box M with the graduated stemI, the spring S, and diaphragm D of the regulator, substantially asspecitied.

NATHANIEL C. LOCKE.

Vitnesses:

ALPHEUs C. Lookin, S. LINCOLN, Jr.

